Members of Parliament have supported a decision to scrap Pre-entry Exams to the Law Development Center (LDC) to give chance to more students to practice law.
This followed the committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs’ recommendation on the ministerial policy statements that were submitted by different sectors to the committee including the Electoral Commission, Law Development Centre, Inspector General of Government, Director of Public Prosecution, Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary.
The Committee chairperson, Jacob Oboth Oboth told the house that the exams should be removed to increase access to legal practice services in the country.
“We debated this issue and found out that the policy is neither serving the purpose nor helping the already graduate lawyers who want to access bar course; it is not a guarantee of quality assurance,” Oboth said.
“The quality of lawyers is not determined at Pre-entry, but at the center. We discussed with LDC and they have no problem with scrapping it,” Oboth said.
Dokolo North MP, Paul Amoru noted that, “I want to agree entirely with the committee that if we want to address the issue of quality control, it should be done at grass roots, so that the student is not penalised for a mistake that’s not theirs.”
The Minister of Defence Adolf Mwesige noted that there were succifient checks and balances in the system even before the pre-entry exams were introduced to enable the legal system produce a good lawyer.
“From A-level, one must first pass very well, and after passing the degree , the curriculum at LDC is structured that you can’t pass by accident, there are constant assessments and oral exams which all ensure quality of a lawyer,” Mwesige said.
“We seem to be punishing our children so much, subjecting them to so much, in my view the exams should be removed,” Mwesige submitted.
The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kahinda Ottafire said that the decision to create pre-entry was to decongest LDC.
He noted that government has now resolved to create regional centres adding that one Centre in Mbarara will commence in the next financial year.
However the committee decision was challenged by Aruu County MP, Odonga Otto and Bukooli North MP, Gaster Mugoya who expressed reservations with the committee position.
“We got very many international lobbyists asking for the liberalization of LDC, but the House declined. Today, I’m shocked that the committee has recommended that the pre-entry exam be scrapped,” Otto said.
“The abolition of pre- entry exam to LDC can compromise quality of the legal practice”.